Copy of a painting from Ajanta caves

The Gupta Age (300-600 CE) was a golden period in the history of the Indian subcontinent. Ajanta paintings (tempera on wall) are an important visual reference to study dressing style of the people of the time. People wore both stitched and unstitched garments. Both men and women wore fine richly decorated costumes, embellished with different varieties of calico printing and bandhani (tie and dye) techniques. Artisans were aware of brocade and fine muslin weaving besides the patola or ikat technique. The beginnings of Maharashtrian style navvari (nine yard) sari or dhoti can be traced back to the Gupta era which is indicated in a painted mural in Ajanta, Hariti Chapel Cave II. Like the Shaka rulers, the Gupta kings occasionally used to wear tunic and tight trousers. But they retained the indigenous trend of unstitched garments. Women folk wore sari and ankle length ghagara (flared skirt).